"The awards were created to provide visionary men and women with the financial support and recognition needed to carry out innovative projects designed to improve the planet and the human condition. The awards are not meant as recognition for projects already completed, but to support projects currently underway or yet to get off the ground." More details can be found at Rolex Awards.

Those of us familiar with the work of Tabitha will wholeheartedly agree that the spirit of these awards is very much in alignment with the aims and goals of Tabitha. If successful, Tabitha will receive US$100,000 dollars and take part in a global publicity campaign sponsored by Rolex. Janne has indicated that US$90,000 will be used to expand Tabitha's community development programs to three new provinces. The remaining US$10,000 will be used as working capital for the cottage industry program to help avoid cash flow outages due to seasonal fluctuations in demand.

On a personal note, through helping Janne pull together the information required for the application, I had the chance to gain further insight into the extraordinary impact and precarious survival of this organisation. Some of the basic facts and figures:

• Since 1994, Tabitha has sustainably improved the lives of more than a quarter of a million Cambodians.
• Families typically take 3-5 years to pass through the program, at which point they will have passed from absolute poverty to owning a permanent house, sending their children to school and owning a number of small businesses.
• Through the concept of savings, the average cost for a family (typically eight people) to pass through the program is only US$100 - an extraordinary impact for such a small outlay.
• The Cottage Industry program is completely self-sustaining, generating enough revenue to support over 700 families in the program plus the operational overheads and Tabitha staff costs.
• The Community Development program is currently running in five provinces at an annual cost of US$150,000. This small amount covers 24 Tabitha staff salaries, office costs and overheads, the interest paid on families’ savings and includes monies donated as part of house-building and well-digging projects. It is astonishing to realise that this year 50,000 Cambodians will have their lives transformed by such a small outlay.

At the same time it is sobering to realise that Tabitha survives solely on donations. Currently, Tabitha receives the bulk of its support from the generous and tireless efforts of several international schools in Singapore - the Australian International School being a prominent supporter. A growing number of schools in Australia are also starting fundraising efforts to help Tabitha achieve the dream of reaching all 18 provinces in Cambodia.

The process of selection for the Rolex award is a long one; the final decision will not be announced until May 2004. We wish Janne and Tabitha all the best, knowing that they would be most worthy recipients of the award – not just for the spirit of enterprise that they display everyday, but for the profound impact they have on the people of Cambodia.